Nine Eleven

Although this blog is predominantly meant as a hopefully humorous and lighthearted take on things, sometimes it does stray into darker areas (e.g. posts about dead dogs and religious indoctrination of our children).

Even when covering these more serious subjects, I still try to do so in a way that is hopefully thought provoking without being totally up myself.

Don't imagine for a minute that I actually know what I'm going to end up writing in each post though. I start each one with a general idea, but more than once it has turned into something completely different. I really love the spontaneity this gives and it makes writing each one much more enjoyable for me.

Today is one of those days where I intended to write about something (3D tv of all things) but have ended up skewing off course onto a different subject altogether before even getting started. Don't worry, the 3D tv post will no doubt be with you before long (just as soon as I can figure out how to make the letters all blurry so you can read the post itself in 3D - free sick bags and headache pills will be provided).

But just after getting started today, it suddenly occurred to me to share some thoughts on the tragedy that is 9/11. Possibly the darkest day the world has seen in my lifetime and not a subject to lace with humour.


Obviously this week was the eleventh anniversary of that horrific event. A day that set in motion a series of events that would cost the lives of many, many times the three thousand or so that perished on the day itself.

A couple of years ago, a colleague mentioned that he'd watched a video regarding the conspiracy theories that surround the 9/11 tragedy. My initial reaction was extremely dismissive of the whack jobs who would try and suggest such a thing.

I was guessing that these were the same people who claimed Elvis was still alive and man never walked on the moon.

But a few months later whilst feeling unwell and consequently very bored indeed, I decided to take a look at a few of these conspiracy videos on YouTube (because there are only so many clips of talking cats and helicopter mishaps that one can stand).

I was taken aback by much of what I watched. Although there were some cranks around, it also transpired that there are many level headed, intelligent and well balanced people who are convinced that 9/11 was 'an inside job'.

There are so many odd events surrounding that dreadful day which makes one ask serious questions. Questions which were completely overlooked or brushed over by the official commission set up to investigate what happened (many years after the event and after much reluctance and foot dragging by the Bush administration).

There appears to me to be clear evidence to suggest that the twin towers and more peculiarly, a smaller tower called WTC 7 which suffered no damage from the planes, were demolished with explosives rather than 'knocked over' by the impact of the jets.

In fact, there are some theories which cast doubt on whether some or all of the aeroplanes actually hit the buildings at all. At least not the three hijacked passenger jets (including the one that flew into the Pentagon) that did according to the official account.

There are a couple of instances which show George W Bush, some time after the tragedy, being interviewed about 9/11, specifically on where he was when he first heard about it (something that most people would remember clearly, such was the enormity of the news). He said on at least two separate occasions that whilst he was at a school waiting to give a speech, he had watched the first plane hit the tower on tv.

Of the two clips I saw where he described this, he made a 'joke' about how he'd first thought what a bad pilot it must have been to fly into a building like that (funny George, real funny).

But in actual fact, no footage of the first impact was broadcast on 9/11 itself - it only came to light in the following days. This isn't surprising given that nobody would have expected this event to have happened, so anyone who did film it, would only have done so by accident.

There is no way he could have seen what he said he saw on tv. For whatever reason, he isn't being truthful about when he first learned of the attacks.

In fact, the only 'live' broadcast of an impact on 9/11 was a long distance shot of the second plane hitting. And this appears to show a perfectly intact aeroplane momentarily fly successfully right through the tower itself, before going backwards again and exploding. The conspiracy theorists believe this showed that a hurriedly produced, poorly constructed fake was aired, rather than being a true record of what happened.

But what kind of motive would there be for this most dreadful of acts that is infinitely worse if it could be shown to be self-inflicted?

Maybe the business man who had recently bought the World Trade Centre complex for a few million dollars (it needed vast improvements and asbestos removal that would have cost him tens of millions of dollars more), who then altered the insurance to ensure that the previously exempt event of terrorist attacks were now covered, just weeks before the strike and consequently netted himself around $3 billion in profits.

Many also suggest that this attack supposedly by Osama Bin Laden's Al Qaida (who issued a statement shortly after the attack denying all knowledge and involvement) was a 'false flag' operation, where higher echelons of the US government attacked their own country, in order to create a false enemy. This gave them an outwardly legitimate reason to invade countries in the middle east (and secure the ownership of or favourable terms with the valuable oilfields there, whilst also keeping them away from other superpowers such as China, Russia and India).

There are many anomalies in the official version of events compared to what is easily obtainable for all to see. Having watched many hours of footage - both for and against the idea that 9/11 was not just a simple attack by terrorists - I believe the balance of evidence suggests that something far more sinister than first suspected happened that day.

I know it is upsetting, but if you can stomach it, I'd urge you to pop over to YouTube and search for "9/11 conspiracy theory documentaries" and spend a while watching some. This will allow you to come to your own conclusions.

This week in the UK, we've seen some damning evidence to show that the Hillsborough football tragedy was, whilst not deliberately planned, did suffer with a massive cover up from the authorities regarding their failings.

Obviously it's a completely different set of circumstances but it does show that those in authority will bend the facts and downright lie in order to protect themselves. In order to truly respect the unfortunate souls who lost their lives then and since, the truth really should be revealed.

Who knows whether this will ever happen? If you come to the same conclusion as me from having seen the alternative viewpoints, the deceit and lies will make you furious, terrified and deeply upset all at the same time. But surely it is better to know what some people are capable of, however upsetting that may be.